Agencies pursue Mirchi trail to reach Dawood

Agencies pursue Mirchi trail to reach Dawood

The intelligence report, which is in possession of this newspaper, has information on Indian lawyers who helped Mirchi. One lawyer is a corporator from a political party.

Indian security agencies have collected information about multiple properties held by the late Iqbal Mirchi alias Iqbal Memon, an accused in the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts, at various countries including India, Dubai, the United Kingdom, Cyprus, Australia and New Zealand. They believe that this will help them track down Dawood Ibrahim, since Mirchi was handling the dreaded don’s real estate business until the latter’s death in August 2013. After coming in the spotlight post the 1993 Mumbai blasts, Dawood’s focus shifted towards real estate. The Indian agencies have shared the report, which has all this information with the United Arab Emirates, where a major chunk of property was purchased by Iqbal Mirchi. The Sunday Guardian is in possession of the report.

Sources within the security establishment say that a large chunk of the property was bought by Iqbal Memon, alias Iqbal Mirchi, and then by his relatives, including his wife and sons Hajra Memon, Junaid Iqbal and Asif Iqbal Memon, post 1993.

Responding to questions from this newspaper, Marcus Rutherford, the attorney of Junaid Iqbal, Iqbal Mirchi’s younger son, sent an email saying, “My client is unaware of the basis upon which the Government of India can properly assert (if indeed it has ever done so in any official context) that he holds properties in Cyprus and Dubai. He owns no such property. My client has no relationship with ‘supporters of Dawood’ and is simply not in a position to comment.”

Earlier, an agitated Asif Memon, when contacted over phone by this newspaper at a Dubai number, asked, “Why do you want to do a story on the properties? What is the need? You take money to do stories on us. The Government of India is peddling lies. Don’t do any story on this.” He disconnected the call while refusing to respond to pointed questions posed by this newspaper.

However, even though Iqbal Mirchi’s son and the lawyer, Marcus Rutherford, refuted the claim of the Memons having any property in Cyprus and Dubai, The Sunday Guardian has accessed documents from the Indian intelligence agencies that show that even when Mirchi was alive, his sons were handling the purchase and sale of properties in these countries on their father’s behalf. This newspaper has also accessed property documents that show that the Memons had purchased property in both Cyprus and Dubai.

Asif Memon, according to security officials, is the person who has been handling Dawood’s and Mirchi’s properties worth millions of dollars in Dubai, the UK and India. “He is the person who has been handling the property business after the death of Mirchi. His interrogation will give us a lot of information about Dawood’s financial clout and about those people in India who have been dealing with him,” said an official with the security establishment.

The report also includes detailed information on key Indian attorneys who helped Iqbal Memon build various shell companies to cover his tracks. The report also has information on several bank accounts opened in India to facilitate money laundering, including in Bank of India and HSBC.

Dawood and Memon/Mirchi had generated more than Rs 1,000 crore — which may have reached Rs 2,000 crore — as per the security agencies, by selling four buildings in Mumbai’s prime Worli Sea Face locality in 2010. The details of the property that were sold are “property bearing C.S. No.1, measuring about 5,747.54 sq. mtrs. and land bearing C. S. No.1/1 measuring about 384.62 sq. Mtrs together with 4 building standing thereon and known as Rabia Mansion, Marium Lodge, Sea View & Samandar Mahal, situated at 170, Lala Lajpat Rai Road, Worli, Mumbai - 400 018.”

According to the report, one of the lawyers who played a major role in this deal is a municipal corporator from a Maharashtra based party, which was earlier a part of the governments in the state and at the Centre. The others are Mumbai based lawyers who have been described as “key manipulators of the transaction in respect to bogus documentation drafting, execution and IT returns management”, by the documents. These lawyers also bought properties in New Zealand from the “fees” they got for facilitating the Worli sale.

As per the report, the key facilitators involved in the Worli Sea Face deal invested their money in buying lodges and restaurants in Mumbai’s Byculla, Lamington Road, Claire Road; a poultry farm in Karjat; a bungalow in Lonavala; and shops at Heera Panna Shopping Centre at Mumbai’s Haji Ali.

The said four buildings were purchased by Iqbal Mirchi in September 1986 and after 1993, when Mirchi was declared an absconder by Government of India, the property was attached under SAFEMA and CRPC proceedings. Subsequently, in 2004-2005, Mirchi managed to get these properties released from SAFEMA and CRPC and was finally able to sell them for Rs 1,000 crore to a premium real estate company based in Mumbai.

A major chunk of the transactions amounting to over Rs 1,000 crore was transferred to Dubai through hawala channels and then subsequently to Europe through off-shore companies, hawala and banking channels, in which the key beneficiaries were Hajra Iqbal Memon, Junaid Iqbal Memon and Asif Iqbal Memon. “This money of over INR 1000 crores were also utilised to purchase properties in Dubai, UK, Cyprus, Turkey, Spain, Morrocco in personal names of Hajra Iqbal Memon, Junaid Iqbal Memon, Asif Iqbal Memon and in the name of Offshore companies”, reads a portion of the report.

* Vacant land at Bandra in Danda Khata in the Registration Sub-District of Bandra, Taluka South Salsette, District Bombay Suburban being Revenue Survey No.184, Hissa No.4, & 6 (Pt) and Survey No.185, Hissa No.1, 13 and now in the Registration District and Sub-District of Bombay City and Bombay Suburban and bearing C.T.S. No.C/98, C/99 Village Bandra, Taluka Andheri admeasuring about 2815 sq. yds. equivalent to 2362 sq. mts. or thereabout.